The Truth
by Ash Night10
Summary: When three not normal people are pulled from the Matrix, what happens? (Chapter 2 Up)
1. Not So Crazy

I do not own The Matrix or any of its rights.

Sometimes, when I think back to the days of happiness, alarm clocks come to mind. In my world, waking up had been the hardest thing for me. I would set it for six in the morning, then climb into the bed, and pull the duvet up. My head would hit the pillow, and it seemed like almost immediately I would be asleep. In my dreams was were I longed to be every waking moment.

My dreams were my refuge; my place where I went to forgot my past, present, and future. Sometimes, I would be a bird, soaring on the currents. Another time, I could be a fish swimming happily along in the ocean. It seemed like there was no end to my ability to give life to that which was not. Even when my life was at it is worst; my dreams always gave me the initiative to finish the day.

Looking back on what was, music also comes to mind. The times I had just sitting in my room and listening to music, were great, though nowhere near as good as my dreams. Sometimes, if I sat and though long enough, I could see the music: the blue of the bass, the red of the drums, and the yellow of the voices.

They would dance around me like people, always inviting me to join them. At one point I did. I became a string of music and I danced. The bright purple that was I was all over. I would rub along the yellow and give it harmony. The blue and I could play a duet. Red and I traded rhythms, and rocked together. It was as if my only worry was who to play with next.

It was with these thoughts in mind that I went to my weekly therapy session. This week, we were supposed to bring the one thing that mattered most to us. I had my most precious CD. It was a remix of all the Beatles hits. My personal favorite was "Yellow Submarine" because the background noises gave me a new strain of color, Green.

I slowly climbed the staircase that led to the loft. Dr. Phillis felt that if you were comfortable, you could get comfortable with others. That in my opinion was a load of bullshit, but I went anyway. He had this way of bringing out your insecurities and making them disappear. I almost wish I hadn't gone that day.

Finally, I reached the loft, panting and flushed. It seemed like the stairs had gotten a lot longer since last week. I opened the door quietly because I knew that it squeaked very easily. The other two turned around to look at me.

Before I go on, I guess I should tell you about Mimmi and James. Mimmi is not your average twenty-three year old. She is spunky, happy; go lucky, and totally crazy. She started life with a normal family. She had an older sister and they were close. After she moved out when Mimmi was 15, things didn't go so well. Slowly, but surely, Mimmi began to mentally deteriorate. At first, it was little things such as forgetting where she left things, and mood swings, which she dismissed as feminine problems.

Unfortunately, for her, they were not. As her mood swings got violent, and her forgetfulness became worse, other problems accrued. She began to black out, minutes at a time. The time rapidly increased, leaving Mimmi not knowing when it was. At one point, she was blacking out for days at a time. They all suddenly stopped though, because as she later found out, she had brain cancer. It wasn't the cause of her mental problems, but it was her temporary solution.

As her life grew into a "normal" setting, the cancer took a hold. Mimmi slowly began to get more tired, and he vision became fuzzy. Also, she began to have strange dreams. Ones that involved people in little pods; machines came up and scanned the pod. They then moved on. It was almost as if they were using the humans for something. Mimmi began to ponder this as she sat in the hospital. In order for her to live, she had to undergo an operation.

The operation in itself was really simple. Go in and take the tumor out, end of story. Poor Mimmi, the doctors decided to do a test on her. Why not take a chunk of her brain out and see how she functions? So they gave her about three times too much anesthesia and set out to work. They first removed the tumor, then removed the area directly underneath.

After Mimmi woke up, she noticed something was wrong right away. Her eyes didn't work right. All she could see was white and black! She thrashed and cried out, grabbing the attention of the nurse. She came in with a needle and injected Mimmi in the stomach with it. She woke up two days later in an ally near Blackbird Street.

James was another matter entirely. He is twenty-one, solemn, and reserved. He just sits through the sessions talking when it is his turn. Otherwise, he sits three his eyes half open, occasionally muttering some unbearable phrase. I guess you could say he kinda clams himself up if he's not speaking. It all has to do with his past.

When James was born, his mother killed herself. She was a raped, mental patient of Mercy Hospital. When she was first admitted her doctor, the lovely doctor that stole Mimmi's color vision we would later find out, knocked her out and raped her. He left town afterwards, and left her moneyless and pregnant.

She became a raging, hormonal, pregnant, drug addict. Every day she complained of various problems: bladder control, cramps, and blurry vision. The staff knew that it was a load of crap, but it kept her quiet. So James's mother started to hurt her baby. At first, it was simple. An unneeded aspirin here and there, maybe a joint or two, or a good old fashion smarty sniff was all she needed to get happy. James on the other hand, didn't. When he was born, they immediately noticed brain problems. Instead of crying, James just stared at everyone.

At first, they thought he was free from pain. As he grew, they realized that his brain was miss formed. When his mother sniffed the smarties, it infected his brain, inflating his lower left region. That allowed him a larger threshold from pain, at the cost of not being able to perceive his world. He could solve word problems very easily, but when the problem was physical, he lacked the skills to solve it. That usually lead to fights, fights lead to bruises and cuts, and cuts lead to infection, which leads to the hospital.

Mercy Hospital. When he was 15, James was admitted for an infection in his arm. Someone had nicked him with a rusted knife, and he was getting sick. They gave him about five shots to the stomach, and then they stuck him in a room to rot. They couldn't do anything for him, because he was street trash. Raised by a slut, kills cats and dogs for food, and fights with every idiot that looks at him. Mercy Hospital didn't like that kind of publicity. They shunned him and helped as little as they could.

As James sat in his bed with the horrible pain, he began to think. If he wasn't good enough to be treated as a person, why should they be able to live? As the days went by, James began to form a plan. A plot that involved a gun, a knife, and lots of anesthesia; also it involved the death of the entire hospital.

James slowly crept through the hospital each day, gathering what he could of tanks and syringes, storing it under the bed. After about a week, he felt like he had enough to complete what he needed. He opened his air vent and released the container of anesthesia, knocking out the whole hospital. He then took the smelling salts that he made, and went looking for the doctor who sent him to this hell.

As James has crept around, he would catch bits and pieces of conversations. One interesting fact was that Mr. Doctor and his slut would sneak into Room 69 every day for a little private meeting. As he ran down the hall, his feet pounding on white tile, he tried to remember where he had felt like this before. He dismissed the thought as he neared the door. He opened to find everyone's favorite doc. He crept up and waved the smelling salts under the nose of the large naked frame. It shot up quickly, coughing and spitting. James cocked the gun at him and told him:

"Move the wrong fucking way and I'll blow your goddamned brains out."

He looked like a deer in the headlights of an on coming car. As he slowly moved up, James noticed that his lover was stirring. He fired the gun, instantly ending her life. The man jumped, and James fired his gun at the floor next to him. He jumped, and James whipped out his knife.

"You moved the wrong way shit-for-brains"

He brought the knife in a wide arc, slicing into the neck. A thin line of red appeared as he grabbed at his throat. James grabbed the guy's shirt, and wiped his blade on it. He then tossed it to the guy and walked out.

James got away with murder, and to this day, no one knows, except for us. I guess you could say that is the one thing that scares me about him. He's already done it once, why not again? Anyway, when they turned to face me, I blushed and went to sit in my normal chair.

"Sorry about being late, I forgot to set an alarm." I said grabbing a cookie from the table next to the chair.

"It's no problem JJ, you know that as long as you come we don't mind." Dr Phillis said smiling. "Mimmi was just telling us about her stuffed sheep."

"It's not stuffed silly! Knickers-Nicker is just being shy! Aren't you, you silly sheep?" she said ruffling the sheep's hair.

"Anyway, James what did you bring?" Dr. Phillis asked, his view swinging from the right to the left.

James pulled something out of his jacket. It was a small case, silver on the outside with the initial J engraved on it.

"I brought salvation." He said popping the clasp. In it, were three sets of pills. Three of them were red, and three were blue. "To make things simple, this world is not real. A computer program called the Matrix is controlling you, telling you that the cookie tastes like chocolate, or that a carrot is a carrot. In my right hand, I hold the promise of a life free of slavery. In my left, I hold the pill that will keep you here in fantasy." He said, his continence not changing.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dr Phillis said. "I'm calling security!"

"Not so fast." James said, whipping out a gun. He aimed and shot, causing Dr. Phillis to grab at his back. As he fell, his white shirt began to stain red. "Hurry up and pick one!"

"I'll take the red one, 'cuz me and Nickers love red!" Mimmi said as she reached for his right hand.

"Red." was all I said.

I popped the pill and started to feel weird. As the world swam in and out of focus, James said "Welcome to the Real World."


	2. Up In The Air

I want to thank Elenwen Thiler for his comment. I think it was good. '

I also, Solo, Lady K, Mimmi, James, and everyone else who helped me with the first part. You guys rock!

The shadow suddenly stirred, showing itself to be a man. As he removed the headphones from his ears, he hit stop. The past two hours, he had been going through tape one of JJ's confession. What was he talking about when he said that James had said "Welcome to the Real World."? Wasn't this the real world?

He wrapped the cord around the set, and opened a drawer to his desk. He set the tape player down on an empty bag of Kit Kats. As he shut the drawer, he let his mind wander for a second.

If these three "kids" really did leave whatever this was, and then return, what happened in between? Did they go comatose, and then wake up? Maybe they just lied. He didn't know, but no one would anyway. There had been a second tape to JJ's confession, although it disappeared on the same night that he escaped, killing the only man that knew his story.

As his thoughts drifted even further, he began to imagine what had driven JJ to kill in the first place. There may have been many holes in the design, but enough was there to derive a conclusion. Where did they go? If he could put that piece of the picture where it need to go, he would have this all solved.

He slowly reeled his mind back to reality, his body stiff. As he glanced at his watch, he noticed that twenty minutes had gone by. He silently scolded himself for not keeping track of time. As he went to pick up the file he had, he knocked it on the floor.

He bent down, cursing quietly, and tried to put the papers back in order. As he sifted through the papers, he came across a lump. As he scattered the papers above it, his eyes grew wide. As the final paper vanished, a small, black tape sat there. He picked it up and looked at the label. Just like he had predicted, it said "JJ Confession Part 2".

He allowed his jaw to go slack for a minute, and then he brought it back up. As he slowly stood up, he immediately turned towards his desk. As he sat down, his hand shot out and opened the drawer he had just closed. His hands closed around the tape player, and he hit the eject button. Tape One fell forgotten to the floor as he slipped the second one into the slot. He closed the little door, and hit play. As he lay back, the voice of the interviewer came into focus.

"So, JJ, you say you took the pill, and then what happened?" he said, obviously having a smile on his face.

"Yep, and then…"

The last words I ever heard were "Welcome to the Real World." When I awoke from whatever state I was in, I wasn't where I was supposed to be. I woke up butt naked in some kind of pod, and I had these freaky looking wires coming out from my back. As I turned around, I came face to face with a giant mechanical octopus.

It blinked, and then I felt the wires leave my back. It was like having your spinal cord ripped from you back. I almost fainted, but I was suddenly rushed along some kind of tube, keeping me from falling under its spell.

I was rushed down a tube of darkness, my head swimming. I faintly heard the sound of rushing water, and then light hit my eyes. I tried to squint, but I found myself airborne. I flew for what seemed an hour, and then landed in a shallow pool of liquid. I quickly tried out all my limbs at once.

All this result in, was pain shooting from all sides. I stopped moving, and then tried to only move what I needed to. As my arms helped lift my upper half, my legs helped my lower half get coordinated. I stood up finally, my legs still wobbly.

Suddenly, a giant shadow came over me. As I looked up, the freakiest ship I had ever seen lowered itself about five feet from me. I tried to find a place to hide, but the hatch opened, revealing a figure. My jaw dropped, as James popped up.

He had a towel in his hand, and I grabbed it. I wrapped it around my middle, and grabbed his hand, lifting me into the ship.

The lights at first blinded me. As he hauled me through, I threw my hands over my face. I let James guide me, and when I opened my eyes, I only saw a person standing in front of me. He was tall, and had a brown skin tone. His eyes were a deep black, almost like a vortex. He stood erect, giving him even more height. As he stared at me for a second, I glanced away.

His eyes felt like coals, searing themselves into every inch of my bare skin. I flinched, and then nudged James, who still had not let go of my hand.

"Ok, Kiliji, that's enough." James said, leading me towards a door.

"James, what are you doing?" the man said, net letting emotion show on his face.

"Did the people that picked you up make you go through thirty question is a towel?" James asked, looking pissed.

"Why, you little… Look, I want him back here in twenty minutes. Got that?" he said turning his back.

"Three hours, he needs food and rest. I don't know what's crawled up your ass and died, but whatever it was, pull it out." James said closing the door.

I look around the room. It was regular enough. The entire room was about the size of a regular bedroom. If I took about twenty footsteps in either direction, I would hit the next wall. For some, it would only feel like a prison, but for me it was a haven.

"Here, put these on." James said, handing me a pair of pants and a shirt.

I slowly let the towel drop, my fear of anyone seeing me naked still lingering. As I lifted my leg to slip into the pants, James turned around.

"I wanted to apologize for what happened in the Matrix. I shouldn't have shot the good doctor. When he ran off, I thought he was a program too, so I shot. If you want to talk or kill me, now is the time." James said, letting the last part trail off.

"I only have one question. Where's Mimmi?" I asked, pulling the shirt over my head.

"We sent another crew after her. We'll see her in Xion." James said, biting at his lip.

"Xion? What's that?" I asked.

"It's the great city of humans. We all live in peace" James said.

"Sounds much better." I said.

"It's not. I don't like it. Everything is too good. I think something is going to happen." James said, his continence getting wrinkled.

"I don't think anything is gonna happen. It's like the Beatles said. We all live in a yellow submarine." I said, smiling.

It had seemed like forever since I heard that song. I missed the colors, almost as if they were a part of me.

James looked at me, his face looking puzzled. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, it just means, that I've finally gone crazy. None of this is real, is it?" I asked standing up.

"It is. You'll get used to it." James said, his whole body shaking slightly.

"What's up with that guy?" I asked.

"Kiliji?" James asked, smiling.

"Yeah." I said, feeling a smile creep over my face.

"He just doesn't like the new people. He's really not such a bad guy." James said, turning his head towards the door. "Are you tired? You could sleep here."

"Thanks, I think I will." I said, slipping my shirt off again.

I lay down, listening to the door close. I grouped the wall for a light switch, but the lights turned off. I lay my head down and tried to sort out what had happened. Had I really been living in a reality where computers were using me? This question, along with others flooded my mind as I drifted off to sleep.


	3. The World Turns

Malthen Tinu- I'm so sorry. ;

I also apologize about the incredible amount of time in between the two chapters. I had this written way back when, but never got around posted. Please don't kill me, I promise to update if I'm going to.

Once again-I DON'T OWN THE MATRIX or ANYTHING MATRIX RELATED. I just own JJ, Mimmi, James, and all other characters written in.

Dreaming is always something I have enjoyed. I guess I've found it my sanctuary. Like all sanctuaries, you would think that no one could come and mess with you. For once, this wasn't the case.

A bright light splashed at my face, I turned over into the pillow. "Five more minutes Mom." I said with a groan.

It wasn't Mom that was bothering, and I wasn't at home. As I sat up, I realized where I was. It was some weird flying thing, probably a ship. James, a person from my "Help Circle" turned out to be working for someone else, who claimed that the world that we lived in wasn't real. I never got details, but by the look of things, it looked like it was time.

I groggily swung my legs over the edge of the bed and brought my body up. Pain seemed to suddenly surge through my body, causing me to twitch. I let out a small groan, and then fell back on the bed. It felt like "today" was going to be a long "day". I tried again to get up, slower this time. I seemed to be OK for the moment, so I grabbed my shirt and threw it over my head. I then walked up the door.

As I stood there, I tried to figure out a way to open it. There was no handle, or a button for me to push. As I stared at the door, then the wall, I thought about what I could do to open the door. One idea hit me, so I tried it. "Open sesame"

The door suddenly "swooshed" up, and James's smiling face greeted me. "Morning. Maybe I should say Night. Anyways, Kiliji wants you on the deck. It's time for his edition of "50 Questions". You'll ask a question, and have to answer fifty of his. It's more than it sounds, I swear." He said, holding one hand up.

It seemed like he was a different person when he wasn't playing a part. I guess that's kind of a dumb observation though, because aren't you normally a different person when play a part? Hell, I don't know if I would ever know the "real" James, but I thought that I liked that one the best.

I followed James through the door, and got a good look at the deck of the ship. At the very front was a large viewing glass, which right now didn't show anything but tunnel. In front of that sat the pilot who had a nice chair and the steering sticks. Across from him was the navigator who was always checking the maps and radars for Sentinels and short cuts.

James led me towards the long strip of metal that seemed to hover above the pilot and as we climbed the ladder, Kiliji came into view. Looking at him now, he seemed even taller than last time. As his ominous form came into view, my body shivered. For whatever reason, a sense of dread and fear had overcome me as I climbed those last rings.

Kiliji suddenly whipped around, his sunglasses not hiding his piercing glance settling upon my body. "So, I assume you know why you're here, and why we're standing here, right?"

"Actually, no, I have no idea what you want me for, or why I'm here. If I knew that, would I be standing here?" I asked, seeing if he had nerves that could be tweaked. That was a bad decision on my part.

Kiliji's meaty hand swung around and attached itself to my neck. As its grip became tighter, Kiliji's voice didn't change at all. "I am in charge, you piss me off, or bad mouth me, you're a dead goner. Do what I say and act like the piece of shit that you are, and I'll let you live." He said, letting go.

I touched my neck, and sucked in a couple of deep breathes. This guy had serious control issues. "Well, if I'm a piece of shit, why did you have to make a big scene in the other place?" I asked, showing him I wasn't afraid.

"I can answer that." James said wanting to stop a fight before it happened. "You and Mimmi were in danger from the Agents. They're like a protection type program that is known to go rouge. They had been watching you both, and they felt like we needed to do something about it. Ergo, inserting myself into the Matrix to try to find an outlet in which we could easily pull you out. When I made the split decision to pull you both out, I didn't think about the consequences of it." He said, allowing his head to drop for a second.

"Look, I don't want to be trouble here, but I will not be treated like the bitch of everyone. I may be new, but don't think I'll take orders and follow everyone like a lamb. I'll do what I need or want to, nothing more or less." I said, starting to climb back down the ladder.

"Fine, go, but don't you get any hair brain ideas about getting back on this ship after we get to Xion. Your ass will never set foot on here again, unless it's to clean it. Got that?" Kiliji said, staring at me again.

"Yes sir." I sneered, jumping down the rest of the ladder. I walked back to my room and opened the door by pushing the button next to it. Before it shut, I made sure that there was a button of some sorts, so I wouldn't be stuck. As I sat down on my cot once again, thoughts flooded over me. "Matrix program, agents, they, outlets, James, Mimmi, where is the link?" I said aloud.

"Well, The Matrix and agents go together, they and outlets and James all go together, Mimmi is left alone." Someone or something said aloud. I turned around, and there stood James.

"Holy shit, you scared me." I said, grabbing at my chest.

"Heh, sorry about that. I just thought I come and check on you after your scuttle with Kiliji. Jesus, half the crew is impressed with what you did, because no one has ever stood up against him and come out with all his bones and body parts." James said, a smile coming over his face.

"You want to sit? All I can offer is part of the cot, but I figure it's better than standing." I said, a little tremble creeping into my voice. In my head, I thought, "Why do I feel so giddy around him? I feel like a schoolgirl."

"That sounds cool." He said as he walked over to my cot.

By this time, I seemed to be getting hot in the collar. I couldn't believe that I was getting flustered and bothered by all this. When he sat down, I felt like my chest was about to explode. I tried to take a breath, but it seemed like it wouldn't come. I shot a quick look at the mirror and saw that I wasn't red in the face, which in my opinion was a good thing.

I tried to think of something to say. But I couldn't so the two of us sat in silence for a few minutes. My every nerve seemed to scream, "Say something!" but I just couldn't because anything I would say would come out stuttered or just stupid sounding. Luckily, James broke the silence in more than one way.

"Is it just me, or is it hot in here?" he asked, looking around.

"Oh, uhm, yeah, it is kinda hot in here." I said, trying to meet his gaze, and not at the same time.

"I've always found when it gets hot in here, to take off the sleeves of your shirt." He said, reaching his. Suddenly, they seemed to fall off as James gave a little tug at them.

I stared in utter amazement and a small spurt of shock. That was, until James reached over and tugged off mine as well. I wasn't ready for that, and when he tugged on my left sleeve, I fell over into his lap.

At that point, I knew that my face would turn red if it wasn't already. As I began to sit up, my head seemed to get closer to James's and before I knew it, we were face and face. From there, I looked into his eyes for a second, and then the two of us leaned in and kissed.

At first, I felt worried, and tried to pull away, but James gently placed his hand on the back of my head, and kept it up. Slowly, things escalated, and the two of us were in the bed, together. The night flowed on as the two of us loved.

I sat up from my bed, looking around. "What a vivid dream." I thought as I scooted my body over to the edge of the cot.

I hit something as I scooted, and looked down. There, lay the slumbering form of James. I gasped quietly, and then relaxed. I then went back to sleep in his arms, and awaited the coming of the morning or whatever time of day came next. Maybe, I could live in this world.

OOC: This is possibly the last chapter. I'm not sure if I want to go any further with this, just because, I'm not sure where I want to go, if anywhere with this.

If anyone has any suggestions, please a comment.


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